The Automobili Mignatta Rina is a 500 hp, screen-free analog Italian dream
Proof that the pure, screen-free sports car is very much alive
If you thought the pure, analog sports car was dead, this little Italian outfit disagrees. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Automobili Mignatta is showing its gorgeous carbon-bodied Rina barchetta in a new livery, and previewing sketches of a coupe that pays open homage to the great Italian cars of the 1960s. Everything about it is designed to put the driver, not a touchscreen, at the centre.
A featherweight, all-analog recipe
The numbers read like an enthusiast's wish list. The Rina is built around a proprietary carbon-fibre monocoque, reinforced with Kevlar, and weighs only around one tonne with a perfect 50:50 weight distribution. Power comes from a front-mid-mounted naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 producing roughly 500 hp, sent to the rear through a 6-speed transaxle manual gearbox with a limited-slip differential. There is double-wishbone suspension with adjustable coilovers, forged wheels on Pirelli tyres, a flat underbody and, crucially, no screens or infotainment at all. It is a purist's dream, in the same analog spirit as the manual Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale.
A barchetta dressed to honour the craftsmen
The Rina barchetta makes its world debut at Goodwood in a beautiful new light, bright shade chosen to emphasise its sculptural lines. It is a heartfelt tribute to Italy's battilastra, the master panel-beaters who in the 1960s hand-shaped aluminium into gleaming bodywork. Depending on the light, the paint reveals a subtle green undertone with a liquid effect, said to recall the reflections of Italy's coastlines, and it is set off by forged carbon-fibre details on the wheel-arch deflectors, side skirts, roll hoops and rear. Inside, leather meets ice-coloured seat inserts, billet aluminium switches and a new exposed shifter mechanism designed to amplify the mechanical feel.
And a coupe is coming
Alongside the barchetta, Mignatta is teasing sketches of a new Rina coupe, its take on the 1960s Italian grand tourer. It gets an elongated profile, a Kamm tail with twin circular lights, a double-bubble roof and crescent-shaped bonnet ducts, all classic period cues reinterpreted for today. The coupe adds the everyday usability of a fixed roof to the barchetta's lightweight thrills, and the first example is due in 2027. On the evidence of these sketches, it could be seriously pretty.
Hand-built, Made in Piedmont
Automobili Mignatta hails from Valfenera d'Asti in Piedmont, and leans on 25 years of composite expertise to hand-build each Rina as a bespoke, customisable creation. Even the driveshaft is made from ultra-high-strength carbon fibre, halving its weight versus steel for sharper throttle response. The brand wants to set a new benchmark among coachbuilders of one-off and limited-run cars, joining the wave of boutique Italian makers we have been following, from Pagani's Huayra 70 Derecho to the DTM-inspired SGT Automobili 55-SGT.
AutoNext Take
We are completely smitten. In an age of two-tonne, screen-laden, turbocharged everything, a one-tonne, screen-free, naturally aspirated V8 sports car with a proper manual is basically our platonic ideal, and the fact it looks this beautiful is almost unfair. Mignatta is a tiny name most people have never heard of, but this is exactly the sort of pure, driver-first thinking the car world needs more of. There are big unknowns, price and volumes among them, and boutique makers are always a gamble, but as a statement of intent the Rina is glorious. We would take one over almost any mainstream supercar, and we cannot wait to see the coupe in the metal.
